When is the Ontario HST rebate deadline?

Two different deadlines apply, and conflating them is expensive.

The Ontario ENHR window: April 1, 2026 – March 31, 2027

Your agreement of purchase and sale has to be entered into with the builder inside that window. For owner-built homes, construction has to begin inside it.

What matters is the signing date, not the closing date. A home you buy in February 2027 that closes in 2030 still qualifies. A home you buy in May 2027 that closes next month does not. Because low-rise closings are commonly three to five years out, a great many homes closing well into the 2030s will carry this rebate, and a great many will not, separated by nothing but a signature date.

The federal window: March 20, 2025 – December 31, 2030

Much longer, and retroactive at the front end. Agreements signed from March 20, 2025 onward can qualify, and the program runs until the end of 2030.

Two traps near the edges

Re-dating does not work. An agreement re-dated to move it into the ENHR window is deemed to have been entered into before the window. This is an explicit anti-avoidance rule.

Assignments need both dates inside. On an assignment purchase, generally both the original agreement and the assignment agreement need to fall within the window. Buying an assignment of a 2025 agreement does not pull it into the ENHR. More on assignments.

What this means if you are shopping now

As of today there are roughly sixteen months left in the ENHR window. That sounds comfortable, and for condo buyers it may be. For low-rise it is tighter than it looks: desirable detached and townhome releases sell in phases, the phase you want may not be released before the window closes, and you cannot sign an agreement for a lot that is not for sale yet.

If an $80,000 rebate is material to your budget, and on a $1M townhome it is roughly the entire down payment gap, the window is a reason to be organised now rather than in late 2026. Book a call or register for early access to upcoming releases.